Helicarionidae Bourguignat, 1877

Muratov, Igor V., 2010, Terrestrial molluscs of Cabo Delgado and adjacent inland areas of north-eastern Mozambique, African Invertebrates 51 (2), pp. 255-255 : 278-279

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5733/afin.051.0203

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03C62100-D276-BA38-4D8C-45F7FD48FE4C

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Helicarionidae Bourguignat, 1877
status

 

Family Helicarionidae Bourguignat, 1877 View in CoL View at ENA

Medium to large snails with a well developed shell, as well as various semi-slugs and slugs. Live in tropical and subtropical areas except Australia and America.

Sitala View in CoL jenynsi ( Pfeiffer, 1845) View in CoL

Figs 48 View Figs 46–52 , 62 View Figs 62–65

Helix jenynsi: Pfeiffer 1845: 131 (Collection of H. Cuming; 7.5×12.0 mm).

A common East African species, with a general distribution from Kenya to central Mozambique. Found at seven stations inland and at all three stations on Cabo Delgado. Pfeiffer (1845) described the shell as “… turbiniformi, … carinata, …” from unknown locality and unfortunately did not give any illustrations. Reeve (1853: pl. 150, fig. 979) reported this species from New Caledonia and illustrated a shell with a more angulated periphery but still not as carinated as illustrated here. Von Martens (1867: 254) then reported it from Java and New Hebrides, as well as from the Querimba Islands (just south of Cabo Delgado). All shells from Cabo Delgado have an obtusely angulated periphery, similar to that illustrated by Philippi (1847: 86; Helix View in CoL pl. 7, fig. 8). Philippi’s figures were copied by Pfeiffer (1852: pl. 129, figs 23, 24; 1853: 321) and Tryon (1886: 50; pl. 24, figs 87, 88).

A live-collected subadult from station 10 has essentially the same genitalia as illustrated by Verdcourt (1963: 191, fig. 1), who treated jenynsi as Sitala following Thiele (1931). This species does not have any penial appendages besides a small flagellum, which prevents its formal placement into Trochonanina . However, the penial retractor is connected at the base of flagellum and the vagina is long – characters that prevent its formal placement in Sitala . The shell is clearly much more similar to Trochonanina than to Sitala . I suspect that jenynsi in fact should have remained in Trochonanina (perhaps as a separate subgenus). However, I do not have any choice but to treat it as “ Sitala ” since this paper is not a taxonomic revision.

It differs from three following species by the slightly larger shell with microscopic spiral sculpture on the entire surface and a chestnut line above the periphery as well as above the suture of the apical whorls. The shells from Cabo Delgado have a shape quite similar to that of the following species.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Mollusca

Class

Gastropoda

Order

Stylommatophora

Family

Helicarionidae

Loc

Helicarionidae Bourguignat, 1877

Muratov, Igor V. 2010
2010
Loc

Helix jenynsi: Pfeiffer 1845: 131

PFEIFFER, L. 1845: 131
1845
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